(Following every game I do a 'Giants Spotlight' on a specific player. You help pick a player, I go to the game tape and watch every snap from that player. Send your suggestions to me after every game via Twitter, Facebook or email jraanan@hotmail.com.)

Giants quarterback Eli Manning bested himself against the Seattle Seahawks. Even with his affinity for throwing interceptions, Manning had never thrown five in a game before -- until Sunday.

This season has been a series of unfortunate first for Manning and the Giants. It was the first time they started 0-6 since Manning took over as quarterback. It was the first time he's been sacked more than 30 times. His QB Rating is under 70 for the first time since his rookie season. And it could be the first time he throws more than 25 interceptions.

It has been that type of year for Eli and the Giants. The Seahawks loss, however, was a low point.

The Giants offense and its quarterback looked incompetent, "pathetic" to quote the head coach.

Since it's impossible to look past the five interceptions, I dissected each one in this week's 'Giants Spotlight.'

Interception #1
It's hard to imagine the blame on this going anywhere but on Manning's shoulders for this late first quarter play. The Giants had their top receiver, Victor Cruz, matched 1-on-1 with Seattle's Byron Maxwell on the left sideline.

This was a matchup the Giants expected to win. Maxwell, who began the season as Seattle's fourth cornerback, admitted the Giants came after him early in the game. He responded with this interception on a poorly thrown ball, and added another pick late in the game.

This first interception was supposed to be a back-shoulder throw to Cruz. As you can see, the pass was grossly off-target. Manning threw the ball a good 3 yards too far inside.

"A back shoulder throw has to be a back shoulder throw. If it's not, the end result is what you get when you've got great DB's in the backfield," Giants analyst Carl Banks said.

This isn't a throw he should miss either. Manning wasn't under pressure for the toss that traveled 23 yards in the air. He had a clear passing lane and a receiver who, by NFL standards, was open.

But based on what has unfolded this season, it shouldn't be a surprise that Manning threw a poor deep pass to the left side. Throwing left has been a problem all year.

The Giants rank last in the NFL completing 18.75% of their passes deep down the left sideline. Ouch! In comparison, the league-leader Philip Rivers completes 58.33% of his passes deep down the left sideline.

Consensus: Blame falls completely on Manning for an off-target throw. Cruz gave full effort trying to reach across his body to grab the pass.

Interception #2
Here it was Hakeem Nicks vs. Richard Sherman. They were matched 1-on-1. The embattled wide receiver against the Pro Bowl cornerback.

The Pro Bowl cornerback won. You can see here that Manning made the correct read on the play. There's Nicks with plenty of open room to work with, but he's only a half step behind Sherman.

In the NFL, wide receivers are supposed to create separation when they're even with the cornerback several yards downfield and the CB has to turn his hips and sprint. But Nicks didn't create any separation and was outjumped by a good six inches.

Consensus: Manning made the correct read. The throw wasn't terrible. Maybe he could have put it out there another yard or two, but Nicks didn't win. Wide receivers are supposed to win that foot race. Nicks created no separation and was outjumped by the defender.

Interception #3
This was a basic Hail Mary at the end of the half. Nobody to blame here. This interception was merely a product of the desperate situation.

The Seahawks did get a break. You can pretty clearly see Seattle defensive back Jeremy Lane with his arms wrapped completely around Nicks well before the ball arrived.

Still, that's not a call you're going to get very often. Sherman intercepted his second pass of the game and sixth of the season.

Consensus: Nobody's fault.

Interception #4
Manning's fourth interception of the game came on the first play of the fourth quarter. This was the one throw he said he'd really like to have back.

With Cruz out of the game at this point because of injury, Nicks was matched against Maxwell. Again, this was a matchup the Giants expected to win.

Nicks was open early. He had a step on the defender.

But Manning took too long to throw the ball and by the time he released it, Maxwell had closed the gap. He made his second interception of the contest.

"Probably the little short crossing route to Hakeem was the one [I'd like to have back since] that was behind him," Manning said. "That was probably the one that I thought was the poorest throw of the day."

Nicks isn't without blame here. First, he allowed Maxwell to not only run with him, but reduce the distance between them before he cleared across the field. Nicks also didn't exactly fight for the ball – which was thrown behind him – or make the tackle.

Consensus: It was an all-around awful play. Manning's timing was off and his throw was poor. Nicks did get open originally, but he didn't do much to help out once the play started to break down.

Interception #5
This just added to the embarrassment, and the disaster of a season for both Manning and Nicks. This should have been Nicks' first touchdown of the season.

Again, it was Nicks and Sherman in 1-on-1 coverage. This time Nicks beat him off the line of scrimmage with a nice inside fake. He headed to the corner of the end zone with a clear advantage over Sherman.

Manning, however, threw the corner route about 4 yards into the end zone. The throw was supposed to be 8 or 9 yards deep into the end zone.

Sherman jumped and deflected the pass into the waiting arms of safety Earl Thomas, who was making his way over from the middle of the field but would not have been a factor if the ball was thrown properly to the back pylon. Nicks had no chance on the play.

“A corner fade in the back of the end zone has to be thrown to the back pylon,” Banks said. “If it’s not, your guy has no chance.”

Consensus: This was a really poor throw by Manning on his final toss of the game. Nicks did his job, got open and the ball never made it to him. Give Sherman credit too. He made another nice play.

As you can see, there is plenty of blame to go around for the five interceptions. In this case – at least on these particular plays – the offensive line didn’t play a major part in the turnovers.

Mostly, it was poor individual plays by the quarterback, who now leads the NFL with 25 interceptions.